English Explanatory Dictionary

packet

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel
  2. Originally, a vessel employed by government to convey dispatches or mails; hence, a vessel employed in conveying dispatches, mails, passengers, and goods, and having fixed days of sailing; a mail boat. Packet boat, ship, vessel (Wikipedia).
  3. A specimen envelope containing small, dried plants or containing parts of plants when attached to a larger sheet.
  4. A small fragment of data as transmitted on some types of network, notably Ethernet networks (Wikipedia).
  5. A protocol data unit of the Internet Protocol.
  6. A message sent over a transport layer protocol.
  7. A plastic bag.
  8. Synonym of package (“male genitalia”).
  9. A large amount of money.
verb
  1. To make up into a packet or bundle.
  2. To send in a packet or dispatch vessel.
  3. To ply with a packet or dispatch boat.
  4. To subject to a denial-of-service attack in which a large number of data packets are sent.

Pronunciation

/ˈpæk.ɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-packet.wav /ˈpæk.ət/

Word forms

packet packets pacquet packeting packeted

Etymology

From Middle English pacquet; either from Middle French pacquet, or formed independently from pak and -et.

Synonyms

package

Related words

datagram packetlike packet radio packet switching packet-switching

Derived words

antipacket book packet catch a packet Christmas tree packet fag packet interpacket intrapacket magic packet Martian packet micropacket multipacket packet boat packet-boat packetful packetize packet loss packet sniffer packet station packet-switched packet tracer pay packet penny packet radgepacket red packet small packet steam-packet subpacket wage packet wave packet
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary